In the placid town of Brentford, bathed by the rivers Thames and Brent and where the boats rest on the banks of the buildings, the Spanish women’s team faces the greatest challenge in its history: to beat the powerful Germany for the first time, eight times European Championship champion and one of the top contenders for the title. The challenge is this Tuesday (9:00 p.m. / 1 a.m.), at the Brentford Community stadium, a field that has seen this season the ‘miraculous’ return of the modest English club to the Premier League after 74 years.
It would not be a miracle, but it would be a tremendous feat for Jorge Vilda’s team to break the statistics against the Germans and win a victory that consolidates La Roja as the clear favorite to win the tournament.
If they win, they would have everything in their face to finish first in this ‘group of death’ after having prevailed in their debut against Finland 4-1. If they draw or lose, they could still be second in the group if they beat Denmark on Saturday (9:00 p.m.) in a phase in which the first two classified go directly to the quarterfinals.
In spite of everything, the Red one does not do cabalas. He is only looking for victory and with that firm idea he is going to try to stand up and compete one on one against the Germany of Lina Magull, Sara Dabritz, Alexandra Popp and the young Jule Brand, a team that combines established stars with youngsters who stand out with authority and who stand out for their power, physique and speed in attack. However, Germany suffered a serious setback yesterday: the lead Lea Schuller had to be isolated by covid and will cause low. The 24-year-old Bayern player has already scored against Denmark and is a sensible loser in attack.
scary numbers
The numbers presented by Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team are to shake. She comes from beating Pernille Harder’s Denmark 4-0 in a game that she dominated with pleasure and in which she was still able to score more goals. He has kept a clean sheet in 14 games out of 19 during the group stage and has never conceded more than one goal in a group stage game. In his debut at the Euro, he added his 500th official match and his 351st victory. He has the thorn in his side of having fallen in the quarterfinals of the last European Championship in the Netherlands in 2017, which put an end to the long hegemony of the.
Opposite will be a Spain without complexes, which comes from giving a blow of authority against Finland after winning 4-1 and clearing up all the doubts that arose due to the injury of the Ballon d’Or and team leader, Alexia Putellas. The Spanish have managed to overcome this serious setback and face the Euro with maximum confidence.
With a team with a marked blaugrana accent, with up to nine Barça players who have just finished runners-up in the Champions League, and a very united group eager to claim their first international title after the successes achieved in the lower categories, Spain is ready to present their credentials at this Euro.
Everything indicates that Vilda will repeat the starting eleven against Finland, with Irene Guerrero in midfield along with Patri Guijarro and Aitana Bonmatí and the attacking triplet made up of Mariona Caldentey, Esther González and Lucía García. In the last confrontation between both teams, in the Arnols Cup at the beginning of the year, a valuable tie was won.
In fact, Spain and Germany have met six times to date at the senior level with a record favorable to the Germans of three draws and three wins. They are without a doubt not very encouraging precedents, but if at any moment they can be broken, it is in this one. La Roja is aware that it is in the best moment in its history and does not want to waste it. You feel ready to step forward.
Begona Villarrubia
